PH issues?

Thanks so much for all the info guys! Muchly appreciated!! Yea I ve been doing a bunch of reading on ph pens and soil conditions and it's basically word for word what you guys are saying. Pens on it s way, not high end but it does come with the buffers and self calibrates. As for my soil, to be dead honest with ya, could be mixed with potting soil and a combo of pro mix s ( could be multiple kinds of pro mix) I know for sure my last two big bales were the xp and I did add a bunch of perilite to improve drainage... so yea I'm all over the place guys. I m guessing how my last grows had no issues? Or is it the fact my medium s screwed like Weaselcracker said? I ve got a bunch just started in veg now so I think I'll go grab some fresh pro mix and pay closer attention! Thanks again
 
Hey Budz, just remember that pro mix is hydro so water it daily with nutes and keep ph within 5.5-6.0 and you'll nail it. .


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BB the best favour you could do for yourself is to try a test grow. If you have two identical clones, or even seedlings of the same strain, then you can run them on identical feed but one at low ph and one at high- say 5.5 and 6.5, something like that. You'll learn conclusively which works better. Saves years of screwing around.
 
pennywise said:
Hey Budz, just remember that pro mix is hydro so water it daily with nutes and keep ph within 5.5-6.0 and you'll nail it. .


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Sure would be nice to feed or water my plants every day but that would not end well in this medium.... takes 4/5 days just to dry out enough not to show signs of over watering! That's what I ve found anyway.... In 7gal pots i feed/water until I get about 10 percent run off which ends up being around 2-2/12 gallons. My humidity in the room always sits around 28-33 percent so it should dry out properly. Got me baffled on this one bud, there s no way I could ever feed or water everyday.
 
Weaselcracker said:
BB the best favour you could do for yourself is to try a test grow. If you have two identical clones, or even seedlings of the same strain, then you can run them on identical feed but one at low ph and one at high- say 5.5 and 6.5, something like that. You'll learn conclusively which works better. Saves years of screwing around.
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Awww man you read my mind and actually I had started that exact experiment yesterday! I have 2 identical clones that I m gonna feed and water the exact same except I m only ph ing one of them. Buddy here in town just told me he doesn't ph anymore and we run pretty much the exact same setups ( only he didn't reuse his medium like me) and his plants look better then I ve ever seen! Now this blows me away because when I first tested out water the ph was 8.6 and tds of 400 plus!!!! We DO have an RO system being build so we expect that to be done in the middle of summer or so so that ll be a game changer, but like you can see nothing is making sense in my world these days!!
 
It'll make sense eventually. Keep testing.
You're right about the watering. Whenever they dry out- which for me about every five or six days.
You can only water daily in super fluffy aerated mediums like perlite and such.
There are always lots of variables. Pretty much all nutes are acidic- but some are more acidic than others. The 'Ph Perfect' AN nutes claim to be self balancing. I've tried GH nutes- they're way easier to balance than the Botanicare stuff I usually use. To raise or lower a GH nute mix into correct range takes only a fraction of the ph+ or ph- that I'd normally use with Botanicare.
Generally speaking, the stronger/higher ppm a solution is- the more ph+ or ph- it takes to adjust it. It's actually more complicated than that- but as a general rule -the stronger the solution- the more it takes to adjust the ph, and conversely- the greater effect it's going to have on the ph of your growing medium.
For example- I use rainwater. It reads 5.6 in the rainbarrel. I can add a drop or two of Ph+ or Ph- to a five gallon bucket and it will shift drastically. But it's basically a meaningless value since the solution is so weak- zero ppm or close to it.
Why? - because the reverse applies and that water will be easily shifted by your growing medium, and have almost no effect on it.
Whereas a full strength nute solution of 1300 ppm or more will try to steamroll whatever the ph of your medium is, at least temporarily, so it's more important to get it right.
 
I ve totally noticed that man, I ran a grow running nothing but bottled ro water and had an eye opener when I added the Down at the rate I did with the 450 ppm town water!! Like you said a drop was plenty.... plus I use hydrocloric acid for the Down, quite strong stuff but way cheaper then the professional grade shit. I did read it was very acceptable and have never had issues with it,before now but like you said it's probably the pooched tester..... there shouldn't be issues with using that muriatic/ hydocloric acid ehh?
 
I think the muriatic acid should be fine but I haven't researched it- worth a google to see how well it works. . I have a gallon of it somewhere and I haven't been able to find it for about three years. :hmmmm: Starting to wonder where it's hiding.... I did research sulphuric acid- also commonly available and works well apparently.
 
Speaking of resivoir s ....... what's a good practice for running one? I personally just had a 40gal plastic tote with an aquarium air pump running 24/7..... sure settled out some gross crap that's for sure! I d clean it frequently to remove the "uckies" before refilling. I tried ph ing the water first in the res but it would just climbing back up after a few days.... not right back up but every time I d add ph down it's adding to the tds. that didn't sound very efficient to me so I d just ph and mix 1 gal at a time. Worked for me but I ve always wondered if mixing right after ph ing was right, or if I should be letting the freshly ph ed water sit and adjust for a while before adding nutrients?

Still a very PH related topic;)
 
They suggest mixing nutes then let it set for 24 hours before phing. Run your air pump to help get rid of chlorine and to gas off co2.


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My res experience is limited. I've been running a dtw setup a little bit- it's a garbage can with a lid- holds about 30 gallons, has a couple bubblers in it. Ph these days seems to steadily drop- but slowly. So if I mix around 6.0 which is a little too high- I can go away for a few days and it will be in the low fives. Not ideal but working ok for now.

I mix my nute solution separately in five gallon buckets and adjust the ph- then leave it as long as convenient- at least a half hour if I'm in a hurry. That seems to be enough. Overnight if I have time. The ph+ seems to take a while to stabilize and the ph will rise a few decimal points in the first 30 minutes.
Maybe try a different ph+? What are you using? I use the stuff for pools-(sodium hydroxide). I've used it for six or 7 years with no issues. I may get around to buying the commercial stuff someday but I haven't felt the need.
And double check how well the muriatic acid works at holding the ph. I rarely need ph- because my nutes are acidic- so I usually only have to adjust upwards, unless I screw up.
 
Heya budz, karma sent friend.

Weaseley is who I wish to chat to tho, interesting to read you are doing a thirty gal dwc. That potentially could be a plant of the decade. Best karma sent to that project indeed

:volcano-smiley:
 
Mine is dtw Nivek. So the nute mix is just sitting there untouched and only leaves the res to feed the plants and then down the drain- never returns again. DWC is a little more tricky I think because your res mix is constantly being affected by the plants, in a sort of constantly changing soup. Not that I know anything about DWC.
 
Ah, Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. Guess I read a bit hasty there. I need to read up on that system a bit first then. Potential is still there tho, I am thinkin. Monster potential sounds like,,
 
Just gotta love a thread talkin about hydrocloric acid like it was drano,, too fun
 
Cool Weas thanks again, you make this who learning process bearable for a knuckle head like me. I was all thrown off from the semi-organic I thought I was running as opposed to the "hydro" type medium I m actually running. I think a combo of a lack of buffers from reusing my soil in cahoots with faulty ph reading s plus what ever those old roots breaking Down contributed.... oh and don't forget the extreme feed feed feed water regime I was trying, some heat issues..... wow I m surprised I ve even got a plant outta all that! Shows just how resilient these plants really are, esp for a strain I found soooo touchy and sensitive in previous grows!!

Nivek buddy good to hear from ya,hope all s well in your world! I ll pop in when I get the time and catch up on your fun..... you still rockn the Lemmon haze? Namaste You use muriatic acid at all for phing? Seems to work well for me but like Weas suggested I m gonna do a little more research on the who topic.
 
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